This weeks theme is all about

Favorite Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

In collaboration with the BooktubeSFF Awards, I’m going to talk about my favorite science fiction and fantasy books of all time!

Of all the books I read every year only a small percentage are science fiction and fantasy books, but usually those books are from amazing authors like Patricia Briggs, Anne Bishop, Ilona Andrews, Grace Draven, Catherine Asaro, Amanda Bouchet, and Nalini Singh.

Today’s books are from authors that might not be as known in the romance-fantasy world but are truly spectacular in their own way.

The first time I read Ender’s Game I was AMAZED by the complexity and the far-reaching consequences that I did not see coming. I believe I must have read it 8 years ago, and it did remind me of Harry Potter. A hugely talented boy, attending a tough elite school, overcoming obstacles, bullies and intolerant teachers.

I LOVED it!!

I didn’t get further into the series, but book 1 will always have a special place on my bookshelf.

Andrew “Ender” Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life. The only way to find out is to throw Ender into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast.

But Ender is not the only result of the experiment. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway almost as long. Ender’s two older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. While Peter was too uncontrollably violent, Valentine very nearly lacks the capability for violence altogether. Neither was found suitable for the military’s purpose. But they are driven by their jealousy of Ender, and by their inbred drive for power. Peter seeks to control the political process, to become a ruler. Valentine’s abilities turn more toward the subtle control of the beliefs of commoner and elite alike, through powerfully convincing essays. Hiding their youth and identities behind the anonymity of the computer networks, these two begin working together to shape the destiny of Earth-an Earth that has no future at all if their brother Ender fails.

I don’t remember anymore how and when I got my hands onto the first two books of Pern series. I must have been in my late teens. And of course I adored the slight romance that could be found in book 1 & 2. Even then I loved a bit of romance in my books. I read these books so many times, I lost count. The first editions I bought must have been in German and now I have English editions on my bookshelf. 😀

HOW CAN ONE GIRL SAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD?

To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise—and take back her stolen birthright.

But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa’s world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . .

Michelle Diener has been a new find compared to most of the other books. I believe I read her first book in late 2015 and LOVED it. At that point I hadn’t read a real scifi novel in ages. I loved the AI and it’s relationships with his human anchor. The idea and execution was exceptionally well done. And I adored the romance sub story. Not too overwhelming, but just the right amount for me. Yay – romance again.:D

Some secrets carry the weight of the world.

Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she’s made a powerful ally–a fellow prisoner with whom she’s formed a strong bond. Sazo’s an artificial intelligence. He’s saved her from captivity and torture, but he’s also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.

Captain Dav Jallan doesn’t know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he’s not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one strange, new alien being.

She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5’s owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn’t the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.

In this race for the truth, he’s going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.

I believe that the Stormlight Archives is the BEST fantasy series out there. UNFORTUNATELY only two out of 10 books have been published and if I go by the speed of the author’s publishing pattern I’ll be waiting another 20 years until this series will be completed.

That’s very painful for someone that loves this amazing and epic story. I’ll have to reread the books every time a new book is being released – just to remember what happened.

Speak again the ancient oaths,Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.And return to men the Shards they once bore.The Knights Radiant must stand again.Roshar is a world of stone swept by tempests that shape ecology and civilization. Animals and plants retract; cities are built in shelter. In centuries since ten orders of Knights fell, their Shardblade swords and Shardplate armor still transform men into near-invincible warriors. Wars are fought for them, and won by them.

In one such war on the ruined Shattered Plains, slave Kaladin struggles to save his men and fathom leaders who deem them expendable, in senseless wars where ten armies fight separately against one foe.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Fascinated by the ancient text namedThe Way of Kings and troubled by visions of ancient times, he doubts his sanity.

Across the ocean, Shallan trains under eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece Jasnah. Though Shallan genuinely loves learning, she plans a daring theft. Her research hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

I absolutely adored this series. A little bit like Harry Potter, Tavi had to grow into his talent, and survived by his smarts and gritty nature. The world building was epic and so captivating that I forgot time and everything else around me. And wait – yes romance again. Tavi and Amara had a wonderful romance going that was never overbearing just enough to speak to my romantic heart.

For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies – elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal.

But now, Gaius Sextus, First Lord of Alera, grows old and lacks an heir. Ambitious High Lords plot and maneuver to place their Houses in positions of power, and a war of succession looms on the horizon.

Far from city politics in the Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans’ most savage enemy – the Marat – return to the Valley, he will discover that his destiny is much greater than he could ever imagine.

Caught in a storm of deadly wind furies, Tavi saves the life of a runaway slave named Amara. But she is actually a spy for Gaius Sextus, sent to the Valley to gather intelligence on traitors to the Crown, who may be in league with the barbaric Marat horde. And when the Valley erupts in chaos – when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies – Amara will find Tavi’s courage and resourcefulness to be a power greater than any fury – one that could turn the tides of war.